Genetic evidence for the persistence of the critically endangered Sierra Nevada red fox in California

Abstract

California is home to both the native statethreatened Sierra Nevada red fox (Vulpes vulpes necator), which historically inhabited high elevations of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains, and to multiple low-elevation red fox populations thought to be of exotic origin. During the past few decades the lowland populations have dramatically expanded their distribution, and possibly moved into the historic range of the native high-elevation fox. To determine whether the native red fox persists in its historic range in California, we compared mitochondrial cytochrome-b haplotypes of the only currently-known high-elevation population (n = 9 individuals) to samples from 3 modern lowland populations (n = 35) and historic high-elevation (n = 22) and lowland (n = 7) populations. We found no significant population differentiation among the modern and historic high-elevation populations (average pairwise F ST = 0.06), but these populations differed substantially from all modern and historic lowland populations (average pairwise F ST = 0.52).

North American montane red foxes: expansion, fragmentation, and the origin of the Sacramento Valley red fox

“…This belief later appeared to be supported by a morphometric study, which demonstrated that Sacramento Valley foxes were significantly larger than montane foxes but similar in size to Midwestern foxes (Roest 1977), suggesting that exotic red foxes could have been transported to the Valley via transcontinental railway, after it reached the city of Sacramento in 1869 (Roest 1977;Lewis et al 1999;Kamler and Ballard 2002). However, recent mitochondrial analyses of historical and modern specimens from the Sacramento Valley indicated this population was distinct from other nonnative populations in California, which were clearly of Eastern and Northern origins (Perrine et al 2007;Aubry et al 2009). Moreover, the most common haplotype (D) in the Sacramento Valley differed by a single substitution from the dominant haplotype (A) of the Western mountains.…”

“…These montane foxes are phylogenetically, morphologically, and ecologically distinct from red foxes native to eastern and northern North America (Roest 1977;Swanson et al 2005;Perrine et al 2007;Aubry et al 2009). In the 1900s, North American red foxes of Eastern and Northern ancestry were introduced to and have thrived in several warm, lowland regions of Washington, Oregon, and California (Aubry 1984;Lewis et al 1999;Kamler and Ballard 2002).…”

Red foxes colonizing the tundra: genetic analysis as a tool for population management

“…For mitochondrial analysis, we amplified a cytochromeb (354 bp) fragment in the mitochondria in 102 individuals sampled throughout Sweden using primers RF14724 (5 0 -CAACTATAAGAACATTAATGACC-3 0 ) and RF15149 (5 0 -CTCAGAATGATATTTGTCCTC-3 0 ) (Perrine et al 2007;Aubry et al 2009) on a PTC100 Programmable Thermal Controller (MJ Research Inc.). Each PCR setup was accompanied by negative controls from the extraction as well as PCR blanks.…”

A Preliminary Range-Wide Distribution Model for the Sacramento Valley Red Fox

“…The Sacramento Valley red fox Vulpes vulpes patwin is an ecologically distinct subspecies endemic to California (Figure 1; Perrine et al 2007;Sacks et al 2010a). This fox is one of four subspecies in a phylogenetically divergent lineage native to the western United States.…”